Of the new cases confirmed on Wednesday, the most—4,350—were in the western province of Wielkopolskie, which is home to the major city of Poznań.
Meanwhile, 3,908 new infections were reported in the central Mazowieckie region, which includes the national capital Warsaw.
The latest deaths in Poland’s coronavirus outbreak are 255 people with pre-existing medical conditions and 117 others who died directly because of COVID-19, the health ministry said.
On Tuesday, Poland confirmed 378 deaths and 22,267 new coronavirus infections nationwide, compared with 17 deaths and 13,473 fresh cases a day earlier.
On January 27, the Polish health ministry reported a record daily rise in coronavirus infections, confirming 57,659 new cases, the most since the pandemic hit the country almost two years ago.
On April 8, 2021, the country reported its highest daily toll of 954 deaths related to the coronavirus.
Poland's first case of coronavirus infection was reported on March 4, 2020.
18,477 in hospitals, 292,315 quarantined
The Polish health ministry announced on Wednesday morning that 18,477 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals nationwide, 1,052 of them on ventilators, with a further 292,315 people quarantined for possible coronavirus exposure.
Meanwhile, 4,715,274 people have now recovered from COVID-19 throughout the country, the health ministry also said.
Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski last week announced new, more lenient COVID-19 isolation and quarantine rules and said the pandemic was beginning to ease in the country.
Poland has since lifted the quarantine requirement for those who have come into contact with an infected person and shortened the isolation period for people with COVID-19 from 10 to seven days.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Warsaw last Wednesday, Niedzielski said: “We are in fact dealing with the beginning of the end of the pandemic.”
In a previous statement last month, he warned that coronavirus infections in the country could exceed 60,000 daily cases and possibly approach 140,000 in mid-February.
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Source: IAR, PAP